2015!

Dear friends, Even though I no longer write regularly about birds and seasons in Tromsø, N.Norway, I stil lurk on the lists, and want to wish you all a happy, healthy and bird-rich 2015. As you may remember , Tromsø is at 70*N, which means that in the Christmas holidays we have hardly any daylight at all, and the sun is ‘a month away’ in both directions. In addition, our far North, but coastal situation brings long, but not particularly severe winters, with relatively few land birds wintering here, but lots of waterbirds on the open fjords (but little daylight to see them in). This winter we had beautiful calm clear winter days, with clear skies, spectacular Northern Lights, but little snow on the ground, followed just after Christmas Eve by some days of quite heavy snowfall (maybe 70 cm in 2-3 days, something not unusual in our area, so the town is well prepared and the streets are cleared within a few hours), to the great pleasure of my grandchildren, that were here for Christmas. But it did not last long: the last two days it has blown and rained a lot, much of the snow has disappeared, and the streets went through a period of very dangerous iciness. Under these circumstances the new year list has a very modest start. No birds have been on my feeders today as yet (Now it is 13 45 and again pitch dark), but as usual i saw both Hooded Crow and Eurasian Magpie in the garden; they are virtually always there. A Herring Gull flew overhead, and when we drove my lady to the airport for her return to Holland, I saw a Great Cormorant and lots of Common Eiders on the sound. And that is all as yet for 2015! All the best to all of you! Wim Vader, Vesterliv. 23,9013 Tromsø, norway wim.vader@uit.nowim.vader@uit.no>